Five small areas in special relationship with the Spanish government, on and off the Mediterranean coast of Morocco are Alhucemas, Ceuta, the Chafarinas Islands, Melilla, and Peñón de Vélezde la Gomera, with a combined area of about 12 square miles. Ceuta is administered as part of Cádiz province, the rest as part of Málaga province.

Alhucemas, also called Al-Hoceïma or Al-Khuzama. This Spanish exclave on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco has a semi-circular inlet bay of 5 miles by 9 miles, three islets, and a small port. Protected by Cap Nuevo, the bay is an extension of the Nekor River alluvial plain. The uninhabited islets were administered by Spain since 1673; but Peñón de Alhucemas was garrisoned until 1961. The Moroccan port of Al-Hoceïma, founded by Spaniards in 1926 as Villa Sanjurjo, on the mainland opposite, is mainly a fishing port with beaches attracting tourists.

Ceuto: This Spanish exclave, military post, city, and free port on the coast of Morocco at the Mediterranean entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar is physically contiguous with Morocco, but administered autonomously by Spain. The city is on a narrow isthmus that connects Mount Hacho (Spain) to the mainland.

Chafarinas Islands (aka Zafarin or Djaferin): These three rocky islets of the Spanish exclave of Melilla off NE Morocco, 7 miles NW of the mouth of the Oued Moulouya are probably the tres insulae ("three islands") of the 3rd-century Roman roadbook Itinerarium Antonini and have been occupied by Spain since 1847. Waterless and uncultivated, they form the best anchorage along the Moroccan Mediterranean coast. Isabella II contains a lighthouse and garrison. Congreso and Rey are uninhabited.

Melilla: Spanish enclave, military base, and free port on the N coast of Morocco and on the E side of the Cabo Tres Forcas (French: Cap des Trois Fourches), a rocky peninsula that extends approximately 25 miles into the Mediterranean Sea.